Trump administration is preparing to test budget law, U.S. officials say
The Trump administration is preparing to test a 1974 budget law by refusing to spend congressionally mandated funds, senior federal officials say — an escalation that could change the balance of power between Congress and the White House.
In both internal communications and interviews, more than two dozen current and former employees across multiple agencies said the administration appears to be readying to push the boundaries of the law meant to prevent the president from unilaterally overturning spending decisions made by Congress.
Key White House aides have long argued that the law is an unconstitutional limit on presidential power and suggested they will seek court rulings to overturn it, which could allow the White House to determine which spending to carry out.
The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office has issued two rulings that funds have been illegally withheld already, and congressional Democrats have said a far wider scope of funding freezes has broken the budget law. Although the White House denies any funds have been “impounded" so far, officials at a half-dozen agencies expressed alarm to The Washington Post over how the disbursement of funds has slowed, stopped or been delayed — often, they say, with little clear legal justification. The scale of canceled or withheld funds remains opaque.
Deadlines in the coming weeks will clarify how much the administration wants to test the law, enacted in 1974 after President Richard M. Nixon’s Watergate scandal. White House officials are planning to “defer” roughly 200 separate accounts across the federal government, according to two people familiar with the matter, who like many others interviewed for this story spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. These delays, which would affect billions of dollars at a wide range of U.S. agencies, probably would be illegal if they prevent the funds from being spent before this fiscal year ends on Sept. 30, the people said.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/06/25/trump-budget-law-challenge/
Trump is trying to implement a line-item veto without the authority to do so.
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